Grain-separator.



No. 684,75l.

A. S. FRUSLID.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

(Application filed May 13, 1901.)

Patented Oct. 15; I901.

2 Sheets-Sheet L (N0 Modei.)

Inn A? ill I B7 fyf/arny In: nonms prrzns pow mom-urns" WASHINGTON, n.c.-

No. 684,751. Patented Oct. 15, l90l. A. S. FRUSLID GRAIN SEPARATOR.

(Application filed May 18, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES ANTON S. FROSLID, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

GRAlN-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,751 dated October15, 1901.

Application filed May 13, 1901. Serial No. 59,947. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTON S. FROSLID, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis,in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGrain-Separators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to grain-separators, and has for its primary objectto provide an improved machine especially adapted for separating wheatfrom oatsa mixture known as succotash whicl1 machine with a minimum ofsieve-surface will have the greatest possible efficiency, both withrespect to speed of separation and to quality of work.

To the above ends and to others hereinafter noted lthe inventionconsists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafterdescribed, and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinlikecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a verticalsection taken centrally through a separatorembodying my invention, some parts of the same being broken away. Fig. 2is a plan view of the feed-hopper, some parts being broken away; andFig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 00 00 of Fig.2.

The numeral 1 indicates a suitable framework. The numeral 2 indicates afeed-hopper supported by said framework. The numeral 3 indicates afan-case, which also is supported by said framework and is provided witha blast-delivery spout 1. A suitable fan 5 is mounted to work in theordinary manner within the case 3. A catchtrough 6, supported by theframework 1, opens at its bottom into the delivery end of the blast-tube4., and the said spout is cut away at its under side, as indicated at 7,to allow the grain to drop through from the said trough 6.

In its bottom the feed-hopper 2 is provided with a plurality of largefeed-passages 8, which are preferably round. Cooperating with eachfeed-passage 8 is one of a series of independently-movablefeed-regulating slides 9, as shown, dovetailed into the bottom of thehopper and provided with round feed-passages 10, adapted to beregistered with the cooperating feed-passages 8. v

The primary feature of my invention resides in the relative arrangementof a series of overlapping sieves and a series of interposed overlappingdividing aprons, all of which parts are carried by a suitable vibratoryshoe or frame 11, shown as supported at its receiving end from the sidesof the hopper 2 by links 12 and at its delivery end from the framework 1by a pair of vibrating levers 13, the latter of which receive vibratorymotions by any suitable connections. (Not shown.) As shown in Fig. 1, aseries of five overlapped sieves 14 are employed. These sieves arepreferably of approximately the same length, set with their deliveryends projecting successively farther and farther in the direction of thetravel of the stock. At their upper or receiving ends the said sievesare provided with overlapping imperi'orate deck-sections 15.

A feed-deck 16, carried by the shoe 11, directly underlies thefeed-passages 8 of the feed-hopper 2 and overlies the deck-section 15 ofthe sieve 1 1. Abail-like agitating-rod 17, secured at its ends to thereceiving end of the shoe 11, Works through suitable perforations in thefeed-hopper 2, so that its transversely-extended body portion moves overthe said feed-passages 8, thereby serving to agitate the grain in thebottom of the feedhopper and insuring its proper action.

A- long riding flap or flexible cover 18, shown as secured to atransverse bar 19 on the shoe 11, overlies the uppermost sieve 14.Secured to the delivery ends of the sieves 14 and overlying theprojecting ends of the underlying sieves 14 are flexible flaps 20, whichserve as riders for the sieves on which they rest and as tailingsextensions for the sieves towhich they are attached. An imperforatedeck-section 21 extends below the lowermost sieve 14 and terminates atits lower end in position to deliver the material caught thereby intothe catch-trough 6.

Between the sieves 14 are overlapping dividing-aprons a b 0. Theseaprons are imperforate or so {nearly so that they will not pass grain,and in order to make them perform an additional function-to wit, to actas riders for the sieves on which they rest-they are made of flexiblematerial. I have obtained the best results by using a light cloth glazedon one side and folded double with the glazed side out to form the saiddividingaprons (t, b, and 0. At their upper ends the said aprons arepreferably supported by transversely-extended wires 22, secured from thesides of the sieve-frame. For the purpose of description the sieves 14may be assumed to be divided, each into four sections, by thecooperating aprons a, b, and o.

By observing Fig. 1 the following relations of the sieves 14 and apronsa, b, and 0 will be noted. The sieves all project in the direction ofthe travel of the stock beyond the delivery ends of the dividing-aprons.It may be here stated that the aprons a are treated as one series, theaprons Z7 as another series, and the aprons c as still another series.It will, however, be understood that the number of series of theseaprons may be increased or decreased, according to the work required tobe performed.

It will be noted that the aprons of a given series overlap-that is, thedelivery ends of the overlying aprons stand in position to deliver thestock forward of the receiving ends of the underlying aprons. Thisis anexceedingly important relation, as will more fully appear in thedescription of the operation. It Will be further noted that the apronsct, b, and c, which areinterposed between the same sieves, also overlap.

Operation: By means of theindependentlyadjustable feed-slides 9 thecooperating feedpassages 8 and 10 may be opened more or less until theoperator finds by observation that the grain is flowing in a sheet ofeven thickness or depth. In practice I have found that by theseindependently adjustable feedslides any desired flow of the grain alwaysin an even sheet may be obtained, while in ordinary feed-regulatingdevices employing a single transversely extended slide this ispractically impossible. When the machine stops, it is not necessary toclose the feedslides 9 or to change their adjustments, as the grain willsimply form small piles of pyramidal form on the feed-deck 16 and willthen cease to flow until the machine is started and the shoe 11vibrated. The succotash and any foreign materials mixed therewith willpass from the feed-deck 16 onto the upper sieve 14, and all, exceptchaff, straw, or large foreign material. and large oats, will passthrough the said sieve and onto the uppermost sieve 14, While the strawor large oats will pass off from the lower end of said sieve 14 and fromthence over the so-called tailings-fiaps 20, from the lower member ofwhich it will be discharged into the blast delivered by the spout 4. Itis of. course a well-known fact that eats will on an average travel agreat deal longer distance over a perforated sieve before fallingthrough than will wheat. For this reason the greater part of the wheatdelivered with the oats onto the uppermost sieve 14 will pass throughthe first or head section of the same or before it has traveled to apoint above the receiving end of the first apron a. On the other hand,the greater part of the oats, with a relatively small amount of wheat,will travel on over the head-section of the upper sieve 14 to the secondsection thereof or to the surface above the first apron a. The main bodyof wheat which passes through the head-section of the first or uppermostsieve 14 will also pass through the head-sections of the second,third,fourth, and fifth sieves l4 and will finally be dropped upon theimperforate deck 21, by which it will be directed to the catch-trough 6.The obvious object in passing the relatively clean wheat successivelythrough the several sieves is to remove therefrom the small amount ofoats which may have passed therewith through the head-section of theuppermost sieve 14. A small amount of oats will usually pass through thehead-sections of one, two, and sometimes three sieves, or even foursieves, but scarcely, if ever,- will any pass through the fifthorlowermost sieve.- Hence the wheat which finally passes through thehead-section of the lowermost sieve may safely be assumed to be clearwheat or at least free from oats. As the succotash passes over thesecond section of the uppermost sieve a portion thereof will fallthrough onto the first or uppermost apron a; but the stock here passed,as before stated, will contain a larger percentage of oats and a smallerpercentage of wheat as compared with that passed through thehead-sections of the said sieve. This body of stock or succotash whichfalls upon the first apron a is delivered thereby onto the secondsection of the second sieve 14, and thence portions of the same willpass successively through the second sections of the other sieves 14,each time falling onto one of the aprons a and being thereby advanced atan accelerated speed toward its final destination. In passingsuccessively over the second sections of the several sieves the stock iscleared of wheat-that is, at each sieve some of the oats willbe carriedbeyond the second section and beyond the aprons a, so that only clearwheat will finally pass through the second section of the lowest sieve14. The stock or succotash which passes through the third section of theupper sieve 14 and onto the upper apron b will contain a still largerpercentage of oats 'and of course a still smaller percentage of wheatand will be subjected to a similar action.

From the above it will be noted that the stock, consisting of relativelyclean wheat, which passes through the head-section of the upper sieve 14is by the aprons a divided or separated from the stock containing alarger percentage of oats and which passes through the second section ofsaid upper sieve and that the separations thus made are not againpermitted to mix. Hence any separation primarily gained on the twosections of the upper sieve is never lost; but, on the contrary, by thesuccessive steps on the underlying sieves the relatively clean wheat isstill further cleaned of oats, and the relatively clean oats is step bystep cleaned of the wheat; otherwise stated, the sieves act to separatethe wheat and the oats by permitting the wheat to pass through thesieves under less movement than the oats, and the aprons act as dividersto maintain any separation gained and to accelerate the travel of theoats toward their final destination, but throwing the stock again atintervals into contact with the sieves in order that the small amount ofwheat may be given a chance to separate therefrom by passing through thesieves.

By the several series of aprons the actions above indicated are repeateduntil the succotash or stock is completely separated. As is evident, allthe wheat finally reaches the catch-trough 6, while all the oats willpass as overtail off from the successive sieves. The wheat and oats bothpass through the blast delivered from the fan of the spout 4 and by thesaid blast are cleaned of dust, chaff, and other light foreign material.

In a prior patent, No. 668,175, granted to me, dated February 19, 1901,the so-called lap-decks (shown as made up of the elements 27 and 31)were lap-decks in respect to certain portions of the sieves betweenwhich they were interposed, and an important improvement in function wassecured thereby, as fully stated in said prior patent. In the presentcase, however, the interposed dividing-aprons a, h, and c not only servethe function of the lap-decks called for in the prior patent, but servea most important additional function. The dividing-aprons of any givenseries, such as the series of aprons or, interposed between thesuccessive sieves, not only constitute lap-decks in respect to certainportions of the sieves between which they are interposed, but theyoverlap with each other.

Otherwise stated,the delivery end of any given member of any series ofsaid aprons, such as the series a, overreaches the receiving end of thenext lower or underlying apron of that series. Hence a separation oncemade is constantly maintained. Otherwise stated, the separated portionsof the stock made on any given sieve can never again become commingled,a result not attained by the construction shown in my prior patent.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows:

1. In a grain-separator, a series of overlapped sieves, and a series ofoverlapped dividing-aprons, with the sieves extending beyond the ends ofsaid aprons, and with the delivery ends of the overlying apronsoverlapping the receiving ends of the underlying aprons, substantiallyas described.

2. In a grain-separator, a series of overlapped sieves, and severalseries of overlapped dividing-aprons, with thesieves extending beyondthe ends of said aprons, with the delivery ends of the overlying apronsoverlapping the receiving ends of the underlying aprons, and withcorresponding aprons of the several series overlapping each other, substantially as described.

3. In a grain-separator, a series of overlapped sieves, and a series ofoverlapped di viding-aprons, formed of flexible material, secured attheir receiving and loose at their delivery ends, with the sievesextending beyond the ends of said aprons and with the de livery ends ofthe overlying aprons overlapping the receiving ends of the underlyingaprons, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANTON S. FROSLID.

Witnesses:

J As. F. WILLIAMSON, F. D. MERCHANT.

